Maputo  , Mozambique - Mozambican health authorities on Thursday announced an alert in the face of an outbreak of cholera that has already killed 50 people in central Mozambique.

The outbreak started last weekend in the district of Guro in the province of Manica, immediately claiming 36 lives out of more than 100 cases diagnosed, the daily Noticias reported.

Mauricio Vieira, the provincial governor, said the so-called red alert was launched in order to control the spread of the disease to other regions while the rainy season is still in its initial days.

Maputo - The international financial crisis is unlikely to lead to a significant fall-off in foreign aid and investment in Mozambique because it is well-governed, a senior US diplomat told a press conference in the capital Maputo Monday.

Todd Chapman, business affairs officer at the US Embassy in Maputo said Mozambique stood to receive "much more financial support" because of its stable business environment and the commitment of President Armando Guebuza's government to reform.

Maputo  - The chief executive of Mozambique's state-owned airport management company Aeroportos de Mocambique (AdM) was being held by police Wednesday on suspicion of defrauding the company of millions of dollars.

Diodino Cambaza, 44, was arrested late Tuesday, after an investigation by the attorney general found evidence that Cambaza and several other board members, including the chief financial officer, had swindled company funds since 2005 when he was sworn in as the new chairman.

The financial officer was also arrested.

Maputo  - Mozambique will spend a little over 2.2 billion dollars to build up its national power grid, reports said Tuesday.

The estimate is contained in a report on a government's feasibility study into the building of a 1,000-kilometre line linking up hydro-electric, coal- and gas-fired power stations in the centre and north with the main consuming areas in the south, Noticias newspaper reported.

Already a poor country, Mozambique's infrastructure was ravaged by a 16-year civil war ending in 1992. The government aims to get electricity to all parts of the country by
2015.

Maputo  - Mozambique's government announced this week incentives for banks to expand their services into rural areas where millions of people have yet to open a bank account.

Mozambique's President Armando Guebuza made the announcement Wednesday at the inauguration of Banco Terra, a new donor-backed bank focusing on agriculture.

Guebuza said the move to extend the banking network was in response to a boost in economic activity in rural areas as a result of increased agricultural production and productivity.

More and more cash is circulating in around the countryside but only 36 out of 128 Mozambican districts have access to the banking network.

Maputo  - At least 32 people have been killed by wildfires and storms in three provinces in central Mozambique this week, officials said Friday.